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Not being hungover or addicted to anything
Having a healthy family even though with four kids (all girls), there's a lot of fighting, yelling, crying, screaming, slamming
Having a good marriage
Having the good habit of exercising almost every day.
Taking advantage of these phrases "Life is too short to...." and "Good Enough is Enough"
Not needing money to be happy and realizing 99.999% of any unhappiness or any problems have nothing to do with money.
Being born in the United States and realizing I am one of the 99.999999% most privileged people in the history of the world.
For me, it is my dog, the wonders of my garden, and all nature and beauty - and a bunch of material things I am grateful for that make my life nice and easy.
Through my 60s, living alone, I recognized that the two best times of the day were when I went to bed, and when I got up.
What are the little things in your life that remind you that life is still good?
The two best times of the day thing. I go to bed at night eager for the night to be over and wanting to get on with tomorrow, even though I almost never had anything really important to do scheduled. Waking up in the morning and not going through that groggy, "bleary eyed Slow roll." I am almost always singing or humming something within seconds of getting up and pasting up the toothbrush.
Mowing my own lawn. And still playing the game of "How fast can I get this done? How long can I go without a break or taking a drink water?" Maybe that's getting dangerous at age 62 on some of these hot, humid days....? I'll monitor. Same with shoveling snow. This past Winter we had almost 100% more snow than usual and the snowiest Winter in over 10 years. I shoveled all of it myself with a shovel. Not a snow blower. Sometimes at midnight so there would be less to shovel in the morning. Eight hours later I was out shoveling again. No griping. Sort of enjoying it. I still get excited (Ok not as much as I used to) when I see the first snowfall of the season.
Even with my, thankfully short, list of medical encumbrances, I don't feel as "old" as most others my age. Or at least as old and grouchy as I perceive them to be. I perceive most people my age to be something like Mr Wilson on the old Dennis the Menace TV show.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Brighter life?
Being VERY thankful when looking at what I could have become... (evidenced by the ONE class reunion I attended... A very Sad bunch)
For a deeper perspective, just spent a weekend doing hospice care with a very dear uncle, the last of his family (Prairie Pioneers / 150th anniversary of homestead next month). Grateful for our few last days together, it was good.
This life definitely was (is) a detour, nothing like the dreams / movies / promises / hopes.
My (home-made) Ice Cream Freezer is purring as we speak (no cranking... it is a 1953 'full-electric' !) Wood bucket, and has been used nearly every week during the summers of my lifetime. Fresh Blueberries, and still some Raspberries and Strawberries available. Black and Boysenberries in August (And fresh wild steelhead too.)
Our local library--my happy place.
Running into friends when I'm out doing errands.
Having the neighbor's dog fling herself at me in paroxysms of delight.
Reading in bed until I'm sleepy.
Keeping with the original theme of food, I just had something that is much better than ice cream. Half a can of Mary Kitchen corned beef hash cooked crisp and blotted of excess fat, with a heavy dose of Louisiana hot sauce and covered with two eggs over easy. It is a rare treat considering the salt and fat, but probably no worse than all that butter fat and sugar in the ice cream.
Waking up each morning and gazing out my living room window as the morning brightens (I get up about 5 am) and seeing purple tinged clouds through the fir trees. Having my cat sit on my lap to be petted. She purrs like crazy for 5 minutes and then gently bites my hand, telling me the petting session is over. Reading my morning paper, yes I still get a physical paper for now. I don't know how much longer that will last. Drinking my first cup of coffee. Having my beloved get up and sit next to me, kissing each other good morning. I could go on, but those are my touchstones of well being.
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